Offense still not adding much to Mets' charge

The New York Mets have a chance to pull into a virtual first-place tie in the National League East Division on Sunday when they play host to the Washington Nationals.

Here are some of the key statistical storylines surrounding Sunday’s game (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/WatchESPN).

Mets seeking sweep

The Mets have won the first two games of the series, 2-1 (in 12 innings) on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. Still, the Nationals have won 18 of the last 24 one-run games in the series.

If the Mets complete the sweep, they will trail the Nationals by percentage points in the standings but be even in the games-behind column. The Elias Sports Bureau says the last time the Mets were in first place or tied for first (based on winning percentage) after August was through games of Sept. 19, 2008.

The Nationals, who have led the National League East Division since June 20, have totaled four runs in their last three games, and they have struck out 33 times in that time.

Nationals notes

Best record last 4 seasons

Win pct

Cardinals

339-248

.578

Nationals

333-252

.569

Dodgers

329-259

.560

Orioles

325-261

.555

The Nationals haven’t won a postseason series since the 1981 National League Division Series, when they were the Montreal Expos. A team based in Washington, D.C., hasn’t won a postseason series since 1924, when the Washington Senators won the World Series.

The Nationals are seeking their third National League East championship in the last four seasons. The franchise had never won a division title before 2012. (They led the National League East when play was stopped due to the strike in 1994.)

On the Nationals’ current road swing, which ends with tonight’s game, Bryce Harper is hitting .324 with a .932 OPS.

For perspective on Harper’s career, consider that he is in his age-22 season. He is more than 14 months younger than Mike Trout and 286 days younger than Kris Bryant.

Syndergaard has 49 strikeouts with his fastball and 33 with his curveball. He made his debut May 12, and since then, he is one of 15 pitchers with at least 30 strikeouts with two pitches.

In the span, he’s one of four pitchers with at least 30 strikeouts with the fastball and the curveball. The other three are last year’s Cy Young winners (Clayton Kershaw and Corey Kluber) and last year’s World Series MVP (Madison Bumgarner).